She scowls at the bird. 

Questioning look.

"Uh, Wen Chao broke into Cloud Recesses last night to creep on me and your older brother about the Yin Iron, and I'm pretty sure that thing is his." She shifts uncomfortably, having hoped to leave her siblings in the dark about why she hadn't slept well the night before.

"What? A-Ying, why didn't you tell me! You need to tell me these things! What did he say? What did you tell him?"

"We were busy getting ready to leave in the morning! Uh, he said he'd warned Zewu-jun that he'd better hand over the Yin Iron or...something unpleasant might happen to Lan Zhan. And, uh, that I had better be willing to do what he said if he decided to follow through on that threat. I said I had the situation in hand and what was the point of having undercover agents if you were just going to blow their covers when you felt like it and that if my mission failed because he was clumsy at it I was going to put the whole thing at his feet in front of his father." 

"With this bird, he is following us?"

"Apparently yeah."

"He does not trust you to bring him the Yin Iron. Will he try to interfere before we find it?"

"Well, if he does, I can definitely blame him for the fact that I 'failed.'"

"Mm."

The bird appears several more times over a period of hours, but never causes them any trouble directly. 

It gets dark before the Yin Iron is satisfied with their progress. After the first dozen stars become visible, Lan Zhan steers over to the riverbank to set up camp.

Wen Ning very earnestly volunteers to set up the tents while they get out food!

Everyone helps set up camp. 

When everything is set up and they're all seated around a merrily crackling fire, Wen Ying draws a jar of alcohol and a set of cups out of her sleeves and starts pouring, handing a cup to each of her siblings. 

She hesitates over a fourth cup. 

"Do you want some, Lan Zhan? We're not in Cloud Recesses right now, and it seems like a shame to grow up your whole life so close to such a famous specialty without ever trying it." 

Wen Ying in the flickering golden firelight is something terrifying. Her eyes sparkle too beautifully to look at directly.

"Drinking alcohol is forbidden." 

"In the Cloud Recesses, yeah. If you say it's the kind of rule you'd rather follow even while not in the Cloud Recesses you can do that, but I didn't wanna assume." She sips from her own cup. "--Oh, this is really good though." 

"I have more if you change your mind." She sips some more and sighs happily. "Lan Zhan, you're really good, I like you a lot," she confesses, relaxed enough for some of her filters to drop. 

She blushes, staring intently at the fire. The fire is quite warm.

Part of her wants to take the cup away from Wen Ying and sip right where Wen Ying's lips have been. What a ridiculous impulse.

She keeps sipping, slow but steady, thoroughly enjoying the flavor of the drink. At one point her tongue darts out of her mouth to chase a stray drop that spilled from the side of her mouth. 

She pours a second cup when the first runs out.

That's unfair and hazardous.

Lan Zhan takes the cup from away her. "Moderation."

Giggle. "Lan Zhan, I am not going to get drunk off two cups." 

She wriggles over so she's sitting right next to Lan Zhan and Leans towards her. "I know my limits." 

PANIC

"Indecent," she rasps, uncomfortably hot all over.

She pouts and tilts her head. "What's indecent?" 

She reaches for her cup.